May
2004
National Standard: 1 Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of
music.
4
- Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
6
- Listening to, analyzing and describing music.
7
- Evaluating music and music performances.
Objective: The
students will demonstrate their understanding of writing lyrics for a
twelve-bar blues pattern by writing two verses of a blues song and then
recording themselves singing over a stock blues pattern using Apple¹s new iLife
application, Garage Band.
Materials: A networked keyboard lab with computers
and headphones.
Writing Blues Lyrics
Student Handout.
Garage Band on each computer.
How To Set Up A Vocal Track instruction sheet.
Word Processing software (Microsoft Word or AppleWorks).
Procedure:
1.
Teacher distributes
the Writing Blues Lyrics
handout.
2.
Teacher introduces the
concept of writing lyrics for a twelve-bar blues pattern. Teacher reviews the handout with the
students to answer any questions that they might have.
3.
Students sing the
example on the handout while the teacher plays the demo file named ³Shufflin¹
Blues² which comes with Garage Band. The GEC3 should be set to the Lecture Mode for this part of the lesson.
4.
Using the handout and
the word processing software, the students will work in groups of two to write
two verses to their own blues song.
The students should follow the guidelines given in the handout to determine
the subject and the amount of syllables in their verses. The GEC3 should be set to the Practice Mode for this part of the lesson.
5.
Teacher monitors
students¹ progress by using the eavesdropping function of the GEC3.
6.
After sufficient time,
the students will share their lyrics to the class. The GEC3 should
be set to the Lecture Mode so
that each group can share their lyrics with the class.
7.
Students discuss each
set of lyrics to determine how successfully it fulfills the guidelines for
writing blues lyrics on the student handout.
8.
After the discussion,
the teacher will ask the students to open Garage Band on their individual computers. Once the application is open, the
students will open the demo file entitled ³Shufflin¹ Blues².
9.
Teacher will then
review the instructions for creating a new vocal track on Garage Band with the students. The GEC3 should be set to Lecture Mode for this part of the lesson.
10. Students will then set up a new vocal track and use
the microphones on their headsets to record themselves singing their blues
lyrics over the ³Shufflin¹ Blues². The GEC3 should be set to the Practice Mode so that the teacher can monitor student progress.
11. Students should be given ample time to make as many
takes as necessary to record their ³best² performance.
12. After sufficient time students will perform their
recordings for the class for discussion.
The GEC3 should be set to
the Lecture Mode for this part
of the lesson.
13. Students should save their recordings on their
computers or to a file server.
Extensions: Using
the ³Export to iTunes² function of Garage Band (in the file menu), students could export their
compositions to iTunes so that
they can burn their songs onto a CD-R.
Students
could create their own blues accompaniment using the sequencing function of Garage
Band instead of the demo song.